“I needed a lot of time,” she told PEOPLE on Thursday at the Longines Masters of Los Angeles Gala. “I mean, you wake up one morning and your fiancé is having a baby with someone else, you’re going to need some time, right?”

It’s been a rough year for the Australia-born rapper. She and her now-ex fiancé Nick Young called it quits in June, just months after the NBA star was involved in an alleged cheating scandal.

Soon after, it was revealed that Young’s ex-girlfriend Keonna Green is pregnant with their second child – Young and Green already share a young son Nick Jr.

“I just kind of felt like, on top of me needing the personal time, then feeling, ‘Okay, I’m single now. I want to have sexy songs. I want to say stuff about being single,’ ” Azalea, 26, said. “I obviously didn’t write that on my [original] album because when I wrote it I was about to get married … I don’t want to go and promote my album and get asked about my relationship that has just crumbled.”

Azalea said she was ready to release her forthcoming album Digital Distortionin July, but “it’s no secret, I kind of had my personal life fall apart.”

Azalea said she’s turned to her love of horseback riding to cope during the rough times.

“It’s definitely helped me calm down,” she said. “I’m not in control! They weigh a ton! I think it’s good, it’s humbling, very humbling … I think horses definitely have helped me a lot with that.”

Now, Azalea seems to be in a better place. The “Fancy” rapper has joined the judges’ panel on The X Factor Australia and has been spending a lot of time with rapper French Montana in recent months.

Fans can expect her latest album in January. But, for now, she’s putting the finishing touches on the project and adding “that extra little sprinkle of perfection.”

It’ll be interesting to hear how she chooses to express herself in her music. Maybe this’ll be the creative push she needs to give us some depth.